Kenai celebration works because of many

Letter to the Editor

Posted: Friday, December 07, 2007

On behalf of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce, I would like to extend special thanks to the community for their enthusiasm and support of our annual Christmas Comes to Kenai celebration. This event has become a wonderful tradition in Kenai and would not be possible without your participation. Nov. 23 was a cool and rainy day in Kenai, and, despite the weather, we still had a great turnout and families were enjoying themselves well into the evening.

Christmas Comes to Kenai was a great kick off to a cheerful holiday season, and we thank all of our generous sponsors and volunteers for making it happen. We appreciate the city of Kenai for providing financial support to continue the traditional fireworks display; the Kenai Convention and Visitors Bureau and its board of directors for providing the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center for festivities throughout the day, as well as volunteer support at the event; McDonald's for providing the hot chocolate; Tim Navarre for being our one and only Santa Claus; Girl Scouts of America, Troop No. 623 for being Santa's little helpers; Leroy Heinrich and his grandson, Chris Heinrich, for providing palettes for the bonfire, as well as getting the fire burning in the wet weather; S & R Enterprises for donating palettes; Anita Necessary and Laurie Bookie for providing and serving delicious cookies to accompany the hot chocolate; the Kenai Senior Citizens Center for baking yummy cookies; Safeway for providing fresh baked cookies; Peterkin Distributors Inc. for donating candy canes; Summit Cleaners of Kenai for donating cleaning services for Santa's suit; Chet Soares, Kenai Peninsula Racing Lions for donating the use of a sound system and assisting with the parade line-up; Kelly Reilly for being our photographer for photos with Santa; Kenai Fire and Police departments for your support at the event, including transportation for Santa; Fire Art by Griz Inc. for a wonderful firework display; the parade entrants for their time and effort in producing bright and joyful floats; Peninsula Clarion for your support and coverage on the event; Kenai River Brown Bears hockey team for assisting in the preparation for the event; Federal Aviation Administration for supporting the event and providing air space for the fireworks display; Mayor Pat Porter for your support and flipping the switch at our chamber Christmas tree lighting ceremony; and the community for your attendance and participation.

Thank you for everyone's support. We look forward to continuing this tradition for many years to come.